The Legend Of MGM's The Wizard Of Oz
Here is a list of things about MGM's film version of The Wizard Of Oz since it's initial release, including information about the deleted scenes, hosts for the television screenings, soundtrack releases, and special features on video and DVD versions of the film. Deleted scenes and characters Several of the earliest scripts would have included the following scenes and characters in the pre-release sneak preview versions of the movie that was not completely edited and ran for nearly two hours in length, but they were dropped entirely when the film was officially released at its current 101-minute running time: There was a suggestion for a simple prologue: Dorothy was to be reading The Wizard Of Oz in bed, she would fall asleep, then the book would fall down from its shelf and hit her on the head, and she would dream the story A subplot that focuses on a wind machine made from a boiler, funnel, wires, and tubes with a fan that sends up air currents into the sky that Hickory (the Kansan counterpart to the tin man) is trying to invent to break up winds in order to prevent tornadoes Aunt Em was originally going to be presented as the harsh and cruel woman who forced Dorothy to get rid of her dog, while Miss Almira Gulch the schoolteacher played no part in the decision because she merely informed Aunt Em that Toto had bitten another student An extended version of the scarecrow's dance during "If I Only Had A Brain" A scene where the wicked witch really does turn the tin man into a beehive, complete with animated bees that fly out of his mouth, ears, and funnel A scene where the scarecrow, tin man, and lion attempt to rescue Dorothy by following the sound of someone humming "Somewhere, Over The Rainbow." However, it's not Dorothy, but the wicked witch! The witch paralyzes the three heroes, then creates a rainbow bridge that she constructs as a trap for Dorothy, so she sends a winkie out to test it, but he falls through the center of the bridge to his presumed death. She then magically compels Dorothy's friends to call out to her, as she runs onto the bridge and is carried across by the magic slippers. The four friends are reunited, and released from the witch's spell by the slippers, and run out of the room, with the witch screaming "Stop them!" behind them. There was originally a scene called "The Jitterbug," an elaborate song-and-dance number that came right before the winged monkeys captured Dorothy and her friends in the haunted forest A reprise of "Somewhere, Over The Rainbow" which is an extremely intense and fear-filled rendition that Dorothy sings to remember Kansas while locked in the witch's castle, but she weeps her way through it and is unable to finish, concluding with a tear-filled "I'm frightened, Auntie Em, I'm frightened!", however it was cut, since Judy Garland began to cry, along with the crew, because it was so sad Florizel the grand duke and princess Betty's betrothal party is broken up by the wicked witch in the manner of the bad fairy at Sleeping Beauty's christening The return to the emerald city after melting the wicked witch of the west, with a reprise of "Ding Dong! The Wicked Witch Is Dead" A rescue from the wizard's balloon by the munchkin fire department A flashback montage of the following scenes during Dorothy's return to Kansas: *The shot of the munchkins waving goodbye from the gates of the munchkin village *A shot of the wicked witch laughing *The scene of the wizard at the control panel in the throne room as he turns, looks, reacts, and pulls the curtain *A scene of Glinda leading the munchkins in a dance *A shot of the cowardly lion growling *A scene of the tin man breaking in the door of the wicked witch's tower room *A shot of Hickory's wind machine on the Gale farm *A scene of a horse looking out from stall *A random shot of a cow *A scene with chickens moving about *The scene where Aunt Em offers forward a plate of crullers An expanded ending which takes place back in Kansas after Dorothy's return from Oz, Hunk (the Kansan counterpart to the scarecrow) is leaving for agricultural college and extracts a promise from Dorothy to write to him Sylvia is the stuck-up niece of Miss Gulch, and her Oz counterpart is Betty the spoiled and selfish princess who had wanted to try to outlaw and eliminate all forms of music except classical and operetta had went up against Dorothy in a singing contest in which the latter's swing style enchanted listeners and won the grand prize Miss Gulch's nasty child is named Walter, and his Oz counterpart is Bulbo the son of the wicked witch of the west whom she wanted to put on the throne of Oz Kenelm is the fiancé of Sylvia, and his Oz counterpart is Florizel the handsome grand duke who is Betty's cowardly suitor who gets transformed into a lion, and later true love triumphs in the cowardly lion/Florizel as he is released from his enchantment and restored to human shape after he killed the witch by cutting her broomstick to pieces with his sword in a mid-air duel, fights a gorilla, and a dragon has been added for him to fight, while Dorothy watched from the sidelines A female soda jerk turned farmhand named Lizzie Smithers who is Hickory's girlfriend, became the wizard's assistant in Oz Hosts for television broadcasts of the film In order for the sponsors of television broadcasts of the 101-minute film to present their commercials in a 2-hour block, network heads often have guest hosts entertain the viewers to pad out its running time. The 1960's telecasts of the film would always have special wraparound opening and closing credits segments devised by CBS, accompanied by their own specially recorded opening and closing music based on the film's score. For the opening wraparound credits, the title The Wizard Of Oz and the names of its five leading actors: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, and Jack Haley, would first be shown in CBS's own format and font, while an anonymous announcer read them off and then followed this with an announcement of the film's sponsors: "This portion of 'The Wizard Of Oz' is brought to you by...". These specially-devised opening credits would never mention that the film was made by MGM. This special introduction would be followed by the host speaking about the movie for about three minutes or so. His remarks would lead directly into the actual film, beginning with all of its original opening credits exactly as MGM had created them with the film's main title music heard. The host would reappear just before the film's second half began to say a few more words about it, before the telecast proceeded with the rest of the film. However at the end of the movie, the film's closing credits as created by MGM would not be shown, and the The End title card that directly follows Dorothy's closing line, "Oh, Auntie Em, there's no place like home!", as the camera fades out on her, was never seen on television during these early showings. Instead, television viewers once again saw CBS's specially made title card The Wizard Of Oz, this time accompanied by some of the film's end title music exactly as heard on the soundtrack, and the announcer's voice saying that the host would return in a moment. After a final commercial, the host would then be seen once again, bid farewell to the TV audience, and CBS would show their own version of the cast list which appears during the film's end credits. At the end, referring to both the film and the hosting segments, the same announcer declared that "This has been a film and videotape presentation." The hosts have been: November 3, 1956: Bert Lahr who had played the roles of both the cowardly lion and farmhand Zeke in the film, Judy Garland's 10-year-old daughter Liza Minnelli, and 13-year-old Oz expert and collector Justin G. Schiller, who had loaned the network a first edition of the book for Lahr to read to Minnelli on air. The trio provided comedic patter and info about the creation of the film, the history of the Oz books, and some insight into the life and career of the story's author L. Frank Baum. The film was first shown on television as the last installment of the 90-minute anthology series Ford Star Jubilee, which abandoned its usual format of presenting live color spectacular shows, but it was expanded to a full two hours to accommodate a telecast of the uncut complete full-length film which was broadcast in its entirety in one evening, rather than being split into two edited one-hour episode versions shown a week apart so it could be shown in a ninety-minute time slot. This telecast of the film marked the only time any actor who was an original cast member and played a leading role in the original film, as well as one of the off spring of an actor who had appeared in the movie was selected to host it. Lorna Luft, Minnelli's half-sister, did not appear on the telecast, as she was only four years old at the time, although she did have her picture taken with Minnelli in a promotional photo. Unlike several of the other Oz telecasts, no stills were taken during the hosting sequences of the 1956 telecast. December 13, 1959: Because there had been quibbles about the 1956 showing beginning at 9 p.m. and concluding at 11 p.m., which was well past the bedtime of the average youngster, CBS rebroadcast The Wizard Of Oz from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Red Skelton co-hosted with his 11-year-old daughter, Valentina, and they were seen as two characters. Before the film began, they were in a studio set of an early 20th-century library as a Victorian-era storyteller and a young girl who was listening to him read L. Frank Baum's original novel The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz by introducing various chapters of the famous tale. And at film's end, they appeared in a studio recreation of a modern living room as themselves. December 11, 1960: Richard Boone hosted with his 7-year-old son, Peter. Their segment began with Peter peering through a telescope in the den of the Boone homestead, wondering about a voyage to the moon. Richard decides to tell young Peter about a different voyage, that of Dorothy's trip to the land of Oz. They sit down in front of their TV set to enjoy The Wizard Of Oz together in a studio recreation of a living room on the set of the television series Have Gun, Will Travel. December 10, 1961 & December 9, 1962: Dick Van Dyke introduced the movie with Barry, Chris, and Stacey, three of his four children. They were the only ones to host the film more than once and videotape two different hosting sequences for both of their telecasts. The Van Dyke clan gathered for publicity portraits on both occasions, posing with an oversized edition of The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz book, sitting on huge toadstools with a shining castle in the background, or preparing to sail off to see the wizard in a hot-air balloon. At the end of the movie, they were shown in a studio recreation of their living room. January 26, 1964, January 17, 1965, January 9, 1966, & February 12, 1967: Danny Kaye sat on a prop toadstool against a painted backdrop of the yellow brick road and the emerald city. He would reassure viewers not to panic when the film began in black-and-white rather than in color, and would encourage young viewers not to be afraid of the roaring lion at the beginning of the film. This hosting segment was the only one taped, but for an unknown reason it was repeated for the next three telecasts of the film, rather than have him create a new hosting sequence for each telecast. March 15, 1970: Gregory Peck opened this broadcast by paying a brief tribute to the recently deceased Judy Garland. The segment consisted of only a few remarks, while all the other opening hosting segments had gone on for about three minutes or so. February 20, 1990: Angela Lansbury, the star of the television series Murder, She Wrote, appeared in a filmed segment and also narrated a documentary about a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the movie and its lasting popularity. June 3, 2007: Tom Kenny, the voice actor of SpongeBob SquarePants, hosted it as part of a special summer series of family movies. March 24, & March 25, 2012: Robert Wu, who provided the voice of Mr. Washee Washee in the Family Guy episode "Tiegs for Two", hosted this presentation. He made would-be comic remarks after every commercial break, and in the hosting sequence he had to contend with the temperamental "floating head" Oz, who insisted that the film was really all about him, and him exclusively. Because of all of Wu's comic sequences, this telecast of the film was padded out to 2-and-a-half hours. June 10, 2012: Bill Hader, a comedian on Saturday Night Live, hosted it as both a salute to Judy Garland on her 90th birthday and a part of the summer series of family films. Unlike the hosting segments which were a part of the 1960's telecasts of the film, Hader's segment showed clips from the film before it actually began. Soundtrack album releases The songs from the movie are a popular subject for record albums, audio cassette tapes, CD's, and downloadable digital mp3's, so here are a few different versions that have been released over the years: In 1939, an installment of the Maxwell House Good News radio show that was devoted to a sneak peek at the movie featured the public debut of the songs, many behind-the-scenes vignettes mostly made up for the show, a "Baby Snooks" routine where her daddy tries to tell her the story of The Wizard Of Oz but is constantly interrupted and almost kept from attending the film's premiere by the toddler, who virtually forced him into taking her along, and an appearance by Fred Stone who played the scarecrow in the 1902 stage play. This episode featured guest appearances by a number of actors from the movie including Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, and Bert Lahr. Also in 1939, Judy Garland sang specially recorded versions of "Somewhere, Over The Rainbow" and "The Jitterbug" for a record album that featured the movie's vocal arranger Ken Darby and his orchestra, composer Harold Arlen as the scarecrow, Bud Lyons as the tin man, and Gurney Bell as the cowardly lion. The album also used some introductory song verses which had not been included in the motion picture and were not used in the MGM radio previews, and dialogue which never appeared in the movie. These additional and alternate lyrics were included to help the songs be sung outside of the film. In conjunction with the movie's television debut in 1956, MGM released a soundtrack album that had been taken directly from the movie itself with some dialogue interspersed with the songs to tell the story. There were a few minor revisions in this edition: Aunt Em's two lines "Dorothy, please, we're trying to count!" and "Dorothy, Dorothy, we're busy!" being turned into the single line "Dorothy, Dorothy, we're busy! Please, we're trying to count!", the songs "Optimistic Voices" and "The Merry Old Land Of Oz" being cut, and the total elimination of any reference to the ruby slippers, a very significant and pivotal part of the film. In 1963, MGM Records issued an entirely new long-playing recording featuring four selections from The Wizard Of Oz, but this one is a true cover version with none of the film's cast, and also included on the album were selections from Victor Herbert's Babes In Toyland. In 1995, the true musical soundtrack of the original unedited film soundtrack with outtakes, alternate and rehearsal tracks, and background score was made available for the first time, being released on a deluxe CD issued by Rhino Records. It features all the songs, Herbert Stothart's background music, the opening and closing credits music, all of the songs cut from the film during its sneak previews, and demos for the songs. In 1998, when the film received a complete digital video and audio restoration, including a new stereo mix, Rhino Records released "The Songs And Story Of The Wizard Of Oz", which expanded the 1956 MGM album even further, by taking off "The Jitterbug", adding the deleted dance music from "If I Only Had A Brain", and including additional bits of dialogue absent from previous releases. This was also the first time that the Oz songs were made available on CD in stereo, some in simulated stereo, and some in true stereo thanks to the existence of most of MGM's original multi-track recordings of the music from the film. VHS tape and DVD special features In 1989, the movie's Fiftieth Anniversary Edition VHS tape featured twenty minutes of behind-the-scenes footage: Harold Arlen's home movies of "The Jitterbug," Ray Bolger's extended "If I Only Had A Brain" dance, film of Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney at the 1940 Oscars ceremony, and some early publicity film with Buddy Ebsen still playing the tin man. It also came packaged with a booklet of behind-the-scenes information In 1993, The Ultimate Oz Deluxe Collector's Edition VHS tape featured a "The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz: The Making Of A Movie Classic" a behind-the-scenes documentary about the making of the movie and its lasting popularity, and it also came packaged with a hardbound copy of the script and a folio of publicity photographs The 1999 digitally restored Special Edition DVD included The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz: The Making Of A Movie Classic, outtakes that include the rarely seen "Jitterbug" dance, plus interviews with Margaret Hamilton, Ray Bolger, & Jack Haley, excerpts from previous versions of "Oz" including the 1914 and 1925 silent films and the 1933 cartoon version, and 5 rarely seen trailers and newsreel excerpts, a portrait gallery with special effects stills, and stills from the Hollywood premiere, original sketches and storyboards, costume designs and make-up tests, and hours of original recording session material and 2 audio bonuses: 1939 radio broadcast with the first-ever public performance of "Somewhere, Over The Rainbow" and the promotional radio trailer "Leo Is On The Air" The 2005 three-disc set featured a commentary track by noted Oz historian John Fricke, a music and effects only soundtrack, new made-for-DVD documentaries, many old black-and-white silent Oz movies, the 1933 cartoon, and a documentary on L. Frank Baum In 2009, the Seventieth Anniversary Edition DVD included a new documentary on director Victor Fleming and the 1990 television movie The Dreamer Of Oz, the life story of Oz author L. Frank Baum Category:Lists